


Strive to Be Like The Bison

by Sam_Nook



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 100wordsprompts, Character Study, bison, mentions of a native american oc, prompt was bison, reflective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:26:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27093514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam_Nook/pseuds/Sam_Nook
Summary: In his mind, he could remember a gentle hand leading his own to touch the flank of the giant bison. He had been scared, but the other had soothed his fears. "The bison is a gentle creature, little one. You must always strive to be like the bison."
Kudos: 2





	Strive to Be Like The Bison

**Author's Note:**

> Random prompt fourteen: bison.
> 
> As of 2016, one of the United States' national animals is the bison; they are beautiful creatures.

Alfred's knees ached as he continued to kneel. Around him, the wind whistled through the long golden strands of wild grain. They brushed along his bare arms and tickled along his torso. He inhaled slowly and let his shoulders droop. Out here, he could let himself relax and let down his guard. Out here, there was nothing but the whispers of the grain and the lone cry of a bird in the distance. Out here, it was just him and land. It was just him and America; Alfred and America. 

He closed his eyes once more and exhaled softly. Despite driving out to the middle of nowhere, he was certain he was in Iowa. He hadn't paid attention to the state signs he had driven past, giving himself time to breathe, to think. He felt more alive than ever. It was if the Earth itself was pumping adrenaline into his veins. His body twitched, and it began harder to focus on staying still or just meditating. With a loud and dramatic sigh, Alfred flopped backward into the dry grass below him and closed his eyes. 

"Maybe this was just a waste." He murmured out loud to the wind. For a while, he laid there and just watched the clouds move across the light blue sky. The sun was still climbing into the sky like it had been when he pulled over off the freeway to find this spot. The wind had died down to a small calming breeze that seemed to playfully push at his hair and the wild grain around him. 

Alfred wasn't sure what had caused him to fall asleep finally. Perhaps it had been the twenty-hour car ride he had forced himself to drive before finally stopping, maybe the warmth from the sun and the fact that in a random field in Iowa he was the freest he had ever been in some time, or perhaps it was a little bit of everything. 

The sun was slowly but steadily sinking closer towards the horizon in the distance when Alfred finally groggily stretched out and woke. He hadn't noticed he wasn't alone until he sat up and came face to face with a grazing bison. He yelped, something he would deny to himself later, and pushed himself backward as he realized how close the beat was. After a moment, he could calm his pounding heart and peaked above the chest-high grain. 

He found himself amid a grazing herd of bison. The herd was small, consisting of two females and two males, but they had surrounded him almost as if they were placing themselves between him and any threat. 

Somewhere in the back of his memory, he could recall a fleeting memory. 

"Oh, animals always know little one. They can sense who we are, and they are not afraid. That is why the bunnies follow you." Warm hands were picking him up before the speaker continued. "They will show you respect, and you must do the same. Just like our people, they are apart of us." 

The memory had been one of his first, one from long before England had found him and taken him under his care before he had been left alone and before he could understand anything about being a nation. 

Alfred was startled out of his thoughts as one of the gentle creatures moved towards him. It showed no fear towards Alfred, and instead, as it came close enough that he could feel its breath fan across his cheeks, lowered its head and pressed it against Alfred's own. 

Unsure how to respond to this situation, Alfred froze for a long moment. Finally, after a minute of waiting, he slowly extended one of his hands and let it rest against the bison's side. The bison was taller than him as Alfred kneeled before it, but at this moment, neither of them felt any fear. Instead, there was a sense of peace that filled Alfred. Underneath his fingertips, he could feel the beast's heartbeat and his own echoed in his ears. Once more, he let himself relax and close his eyes. 

In his mind, he could remember a gentle hand leading his own to touch the flank of the giant bison. He had been scared, but the other had soothed his fears. "The bison is a gentle creature, little one. You must always strive to be like the bison."


End file.
